Pages

Friday, January 4, 2013

The Pinkie Pie Dress

How do you know when your love for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a bit out of the norm? Probably about the time you start developing pony-themed fabrics and sewing dresses out of them.

As I've written about before, I have a great fondness for the character Pinkie Pie: her sense of humor, her life philosophy, her pet alligator Gummy, her fashion sense. You may also know that every pony has what's called a "cutie mark" (not as lame as it sounds, I swear) on her flank: a symbol of their special talent. Pinkie's cutie mark is a cluster of blue and yellow balloons, symbolizing her awesome party-throwing skills and her ability to make anyone smile.

I've been learning more about Photoshop and Spoonflower, so I decided to put my skills to the test with a Pinkie Pie-themed fabric. I had it printed on Spoonflower's new cotton and silk blend, which is absolutely scrumptious. I pre-washed it, and it came out with the most fabulous hand and sheen. It's very soft, with a nice drape. Update: I just made this fabric for sale on Spoonflower; you can order it here!

The top half of the dress is my Wiggle Dress pattern from my book (here's where I first showed it off). I shortened it to the waist so I could add a full skirt, and also changed the sleeve. The original has gussets under the arm for a close fit, but I wanted more of a kimono/dolman look with this dress so I made some pattern changes. (I'm planning a tutorial on this, so hopefully you're interested!)

The skirt is a rectangle that I added 3 side pleats to, lining them up with the seams and darts on the bodice. Of course, it needed pockets as well.

Construction notes! I lined the bodice with white cotton batiste, sewing the facings to the lining (here's a link to this method). I like a cotton lining on a bodice, it just feels comfortable to me.

The skirt is underlined in white silk crepe de chine, which helps support the pleats and the drape of the skirt. Here's the hem, finished with seam binding and stitched by hand to the underlining.

I'm glad I got that out of my system: it (hopefully) negates the need for any more MLP-themed garments!

P.S. My hair is currently a color I'm calling "Atomic Magenta." It's Joico Magenta and Special Effects Atomic Pink, done in two separate processes. I think Pinkie Pie would approve.

86 comments:

That's adorable! Are you satisfied with how the Spoonflower prints hold up in the wash? I made a dress out of my own fabric last summer and was sad to see the print fade rather quickly, even with just cool handwashes and a very mild detergent...

I've been wondering about that Spoonflower silk/cotton blend fabric, with the thought that I'd like to see a dress with lines such as yours in such a fabric blend in my own closet. I would never have come up with such a print as yours though, so perfectly pink.

My daughter is a huge Pinkie Pie fan too!! She even made herself a costume to wear to Anime USA, She got lots of compliments. She just read your blog and now she want's me to follow the tutorial when you do it :-) Thanks for the fun post!!

Lovely! I recently ordered a test swatch of the cotton silk with some custom labels of mine printed on it. I figured if all the test swatches cost the same, I might as well get some of the nice stuff for my labels, which I may be ordering in test swatch size from time to time.

I do believe you're four-year-old Gracie's new hero, because MLPFIM is her favorite show and she has a whole toy chest filled with MLP toys. Recently, she's decided that everyone in the family *must* be MLP characters for this coming Halloween. Honestly? I'm praying it changes, because I really don't wanna make four pony costumes and one Spike costume come October!

I got your book in the mail about a week before traveling to Europe, so I am yet able to try out any of your patterns, but the Wiggle Dress is first on the agenda for when I get home. Was thinking a lovely aubergine or maybe dark blue wool blend (not that I could wear it in Melbourne's current heat of 40 degrees C - 107 F!!)

This is adorable! I like how subtle the reference is. So often I love silly things and wish I could make a dress out of ridiculous themed fabric. I adore this shade of pink on your hair! So bright, yet deep, too!

I love this! I'm so impressed you took the time to design your own fabric, you really did design the whole thing from start to finish!Also, I've been feeling this for a while so I thought I'd say something.. could you upload your pictures a little larger? They're always so small and I feel like I'm missing something! thanks!

I'm glad I'm not the only one inspired by MLP. I came across what I could only describe as "Fluttershy Fabric" at Fabricland last year, and had to make a dress out of it. It was my first foray into dressmaking, after decent attempts at skirts and purses, and I just had to make something cute out of the adorable yellow fabric with pink and blue butterflies. And of course when it came time for the local comic convention, I donned a pink wig and took it out for a spin.

I have been following your blog for ages now but have never commented! I bought your book last year and made the wiggle dress. I love it so much and have worn it many times to work. Thought you might want to see

Ahhh how cute and pretty, so adorable! I love how you've had your own design printed on it too makes it even cuter!!still loving your hair too, and if possible it makes you look even more gorgeous teamed with the dress :)

Love this dress,especially the change in pattern under the arms. I would love to see a tutorial in the future!Just found your blog today...and am going to follow - and may make it to Sew LA next Sunday to say hi :)

Wow, this is gorgeous! You look like you're ready for spring.I'm glad to hear that the fabric has a nice hand. When I ordered a swatch in the silk/cotton blend it was kinda papery and cheap feeling, even after a wash. Maybe I'll give it another try if they've got a news version.

Love your new hair color- I think the tone is less harsh than your original pink. I'm looking at the link to the Threads article as your referenced method for lining the bodice. The directions indicate that the garment is assembled, including the zipper, and that the lining is hand stitched over the zipper. Clearly, you have added the zipper last and the raw edge of the zipper faces outward, toward the body any not hidden or protected by the facing. I would also be interested in seeing how the waistline seam was finished. You illustrated the hem finish quite nicely, but there are some tips to share about how to apply the lace, that would have added more to this photo. I guess I'm missing the techniques and tutorials that used to be more regular posts.

Your fabric is adorable and the dress looks lovely on you! You have sold it well.

You look adorable! The blue balloons match your shoes and the dark pink hair looks great with the light pink dress. I don't know why I like this outfit, I don't usually like pink. Maybe I actually do like pink and have been lying to myself.

OHMIGOSH, OHMIGOSH, OHMIGOSH, OHMIGOSH!I wanted to comment when you first posted this, but my phone was being screwy. As a fellow MLP fan, I LOVE this! I'm also in the school of "Pinkie Pie is the best pony", and I sewed cupcake dress in her honour last year to wear to my birthday party (and bought pink stockings with candy all over them to wear with it).

Would you consider making a slightly darker colourway of the fabric? I don't really like pastels, but if there was a version where the pink was Pinkie-hair coloured, I'd buy it in a shot ...

While I LOVE this dress and can't wait to make my own (having recently bought your book), I can't help but stare at those SHOES!! They look like exactly the shoes I want for my wedding this summer. Do you remember where you got them, Gertie?

hello,I've found that and thought it could really be nice with your dresshttp://www.petitcitron.com/index.php/Vos-projets/mini-gilet-mon-petit-poney-5246.htmlI must say that I really love to read you !